Take your mind on a trip around SA
Light-hearted touch as Khumalo takes reader along on his travels
Book: Rainbow Nation My Zulu Arse Publisher: Umuzi Reviewer: Tumo Mokone
Sihle Khumalo has already established himself as an ardent travel writer with his previous works, mainly about travelling in other parts of Africa using public transport.
This time, Khumalo was in his car and having fun as he travelled for material for this book. Ho tsamaya ke ho bona
(travel widens your horizons), as we say in Sotho, and for myriad reasons, in this title it is not Khumalo’s eyes but the reader’s as well as he opens up parts of the country many of us had not been to.
Curiously, even for places the reader could have visited before, or regularly travel to, the author has a way of revealing key info that escapes even the attention of local authorities who should be up to speed preserving and promoting it.
In 2016, anniversaries of several historical milestones inspired the author to explore his country. These included the 20th anniversary of the postapartheid Constitution, 40th anniversary of the 1976 youth uprising, 50 years since HF Verwoerd’s assassination, the 110th anniversary of the Bhambatha Rebellion, among others.
As a point of departure, Khumalo keenly reveals, in his 20-day journey through SA, an interest in iconic preapartheid African leaders and memorials of Struggle heroes.
Along the way he gets fascinated with names of places and mountain passes and the natural beauty these engineering wonders expose.
When d escending the Kraai River Pass, heading to Barkly East in Eastern Cape along the R58, Khumalo remarks: “I have never heard of this pass before but was impressed by the awesome landscape it offers.” He reckons it’s worth a stop for a picnic.
But after the town named after Sir Henry Barkly (one of numerous former Cape governors honoured with a town name in SA) there was another secret beauty awaiting: the Barkly Pass! He concludes that in the trip so far, this pass rated third for his own “Most Spectacular Scenery” after the Golden Gate in eastern Free State and the Panorama Route in Mpumalanga.
Personally, the best piece of education in the book is in the earlier pages, on Vilakazi Street in Soweto. The famous street in Orlando West hogs tourism numbers in the massive Joburg township, but not many – locals and visitors alike – have paused to ask who is Vilakazi.
Thanks to Khumalo, it turns out to be BW Vilakazi, the same person the high school in Zola, also Soweto, is named after. But that’s not all: Vilakazi is the first black person in SA to earn a PhD degree, in 1946. BW was born Bhambatha kaMshini Vilakazi, and adopted the Benedict Wallet name at his baptism into Christianity at the age of 10.
In Tshwane, Khumalo visits Banareng Primary in Atteridgeville where Jeff Masemola – the “Tiger of Azania” – taught before becoming the longest-serving prisoner on Robben Island.
The book touches on the secret meeting Masemola, on his release, had with still imprisoned Nelson Mandela in Cape Town on November 8 1989. Fascinating.
From the Sharpeville to Boipatong massacre memorials in the Vaal, to the second museum to the Isandlwana battle in KZN right to Calata House in Cradock, the author decries the condition and management of these crucial keypoints of the country’s black history.
Khumalo uses plenty of humour spiced with some swear words but the fun of it all is never lost on the reader because of the author’s lighthearted nature. Whether it’s a serious point or mocking some shabbiness, he does not lose the opportunity to be funny.
The title sounds vulgar, to sensitive readers of course, but it represents Khumalo’s frus- tration about the land being the main divisive factor in terms of access to the beauty of this country. The black majority and Khoisan (who during travels through the mammoth Northern Cape, the author insists are the rightful owners of SA), own little of the country. This reality negates that rainbow bliss of our nation.
I don’t recall any flaws to single out in the book, but then maybe it’s because I was travelling more than I was reading. Worth checking out.